The University of Notre Dame in Indiana announced last month that pro-abortion radical Susan Ostermann had been appointed to lead the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.

The administrative elevation of an activist whose secular ministry is fundamentally at odds with the moral teachings of the Catholic Church and the school's corresponding pro-life position proved intolerable to Notre Dame's members and supporters — including the cleric invested with the power to prohibit the institution from identifying as Catholic.

'A win for consistency, clarity, and common sense.'

The sustained protest by scholars, supporters, alumni, and clergy — including 15 bishops and two archbishops — appears to have paid off.

Keough School of Global Affairs Dean Mary Gallagher, the administrator who reportedly first made the appointment, announced in a letter on Thursday to students and faculty that Ostermann "has decided not to move forward as director."

"I am grateful for her willingness to serve and for the thoughtfulness with which she approached this decision," wrote Gallagher.

Gallagher suggested further that the activist — who has dehumanized the unborn, downplayed the dangers of abortion, equated childbirth without the option of abortion as "violence," worked with an organization that seeks to enshrine pro-abortion policies around the world, and vilified the pro-life movement — is a "respected scholar" whose "research and teaching reflect the intellectual rigor and interdisciplinary excellence at the heart of both the Lieu Institute and the Keough School of Global Affairs."

Photo by ROBERT CHIARITO/AFP via Getty Images

Ostermann said in a statement included in Gallagher's letter that "the focus on my appointment risks overshadowing the vital work the Institute performs, which it should be allowed to pursue without undue distraction," reported the Irish Rover.

She noted further that "it has become clear that there is work to do at Notre Dame to build a community where a variety of voices can flourish."

The announcement comes two weeks after Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend condemned Ostermann's appointment, underscored that her views and activism were disqualifying, and told the university to "rectify this situation."

Following the news that Ostermann had thrown in the towel, Bishop Rhoades expressed gratitude "to all the members of the Notre Dame community and beyond who, out of love for Notre Dame, expressed their opposition to the appointment."

'The Bishop did not urge us to sit silently and watch our Lady’s University fall before our eyes.'

"The reason I opposed the appointment is because the appointment of persons to leadership positions at a Catholic university is an act of institutional witness, a mission-governance issue," wrote Rhoades.

"Clearly Notre Dame is reaffirming its fidelity to a core truth of Catholic social teaching that is central to the Church’s commitment to integral human development."

Mary FioRito, senior fellow at the Catholic Association, said in a statement obtained by Blaze News, "Professor Susan Ostermann's decision not to accept the position of director at the University of Notre Dame’s Liu Center is a win for consistency, clarity, and common sense."

"As an explicitly Catholic university, Notre Dame owes its students and faculty 'truth in advertising,'" continued FioRito. "Ostermann’s public advocacy of legal abortion would have overshadowed the good work of the Liu Center and significantly hampered its ability to form students."

Catholic and conservative student groups — including Notre Dame Right to Life, Knights of Columbus Council 1477, and the Militia of Immaculata — were planning to hold a prayerful protest Friday evening where they would urge Rev. Robert Dowd, the president of the university, to rescind the appointment and "exercise his authority to enforce Notre Dame's Catholic mission."

Sophomore Luke Woodyard, co-organizer of the planned demonstration, stated, "The Bishop did not urge us to sit silently and watch our Lady’s University fall before our eyes; he gave us a clear call to action."

Notre Dame Right to Life President Anna Kelley told the Observer on Thursday that in light of Ostermann's decision, students will still assemble on Friday but for "a prayerful procession in gratitude of the recent decision" and in thanks "for the true Catholic identity of Notre Dame."

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'Scandal': Abortion radical's appointment at University of Notre Dame has local Catholic bishop outraged

The University of Notre Dame in Indiana announced last month that pro-abortion radical Susan Ostermann had been appointed director of the school's Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.

This appointment — reportedly made by Keough School of Global Affairs dean Mary Gallagher and approved by Notre Dame provost John McGreevy — has enraged those members and supporters of the university under the impression that the institution is still Catholic.

Despite significant backlash and resignations by some esteemed scholars, the university dug in its heels, refusing to reverse course. It may come to regret doing so sooner rather than later.

Leaning into his apostolic responsibility to protect and strengthen the school's Catholic identity, Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend made abundantly clear on Wednesday that Ostermann's abortion advocacy is disqualifying.

"I must express my dismay and my strong opposition to this appointment that is causing scandal to the faithful of our diocese and beyond," the bishop said in a lengthy jeremiad. "Professor Ostermann's extensive public advocacy of abortion rights and her disparaging and inflammatory remarks about those who uphold the dignity of human life from the moment of conception to natural death go against a core principle of justice that is central to Notre Dame's Catholic identity and mission."

Bishop Rhoades noted that Ostermann, an associate professor of global affairs at the university, has repeatedly attacked the pro-life movement and defended the slaughter of the unborn "using outrageous rhetoric."

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

In a December 2022 article that she co-authored with ex-Notre Dame professor Tamara Kay, Ostermann claimed:

"Criminalizing abortion results in irreparable harm";
It is a "lie" that "abortion kills babies";
"There are no babies or fetuses" present during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, evidently discounting all the scientific evidence to the contrary;
Abortion is not dangerous, evidently discounting the perspective of the unborn baby; and
Abortion "doesn't affect future fertility."

In a July 2022 article she also co-authored with Kay, Ostermann claimed that white supremacy was one of the primary motivations behind the abortion abolition movement in the U.S., neglecting to mention how America's abortion regime was largely driven by racist eugenicists like Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger.

'These are all outrageous claims that should disqualify her.'

In a May 2022 article, the radical duo characterized pregnancy and childbirth without the option of abortion as "violence," "sexual abuse," and "trauma," and abortion, alternatively, as "freedom-enhancing, in the truest sense of the word."

Among her numerous other abortion propaganda pieces is an article claiming that a ban of the abortion pill mifepristone would "violate human rights" as well as an article attacking pro-life pregnancy centers.

'Rectify this situation.'

"These are all outrageous claims that should disqualify her from an administrative and leadership role at a Catholic university," the bishop wrote.

Bishop Rhoades also denounced the radical appointee's affiliation with the Population Council, an outfit that works to enshrine pro-abortion policies around the world.

"I hope that Professor Ostermann will explicitly retract these claims, and I pray that she will have a change of mind and heart that will lead her to affirm the innate dignity of unborn babies as well as that of their mothers."

After citing the late Pope Francis' assertion that it is a "false compassion which holds that it is a benefit to women to promote abortion," Pope Leo XIV's recent reminder that "the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion," and reiterating the Catholic Church's unchanging defense of "the inalienable right to life of mothers and their unborn children," the bishop underscored that "Professor Ostermann's opposite view thus clearly should disqualify her from holding a position of leadership within the Keough School."

The position publicly championed by Ostermann is at odds with the university's official position:

Consistent with the teaching of the Catholic Church on such issues as abortion, research involving human embryos, euthanasia, the death penalty, and other related life issues, the University of Notre Dame recognizes and upholds the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.

In his message, the bishop — whose diocesan territory includes the university — noted both that such "appointments have profound impact on the integrity of Notre Dame's public witness as a Catholic university" and that the university has until July 1, when Ostermann's appointment is scheduled to go into effect, to "rectify this situation."

The decision to cancel the appointment reportedly rests with the six Holy Cross priests and six laypeople on the university's Board of Fellows.

'Going ahead with this appointment is repugnant.'

Holy Cross Father Wilson Miscamble, a professor emeritus of history at Notre Dame, recently noted in First Things that the board has a "fiduciary responsibility to maintain the university's 'character as a Catholic institution of higher learning.'"

A university spokesperson told the Irish Rover that the university had yet to change its position as of Feb. 8.

The Catholic Observer reported that if a bishop determines that a Catholic university is failing to faithfully execute its mission, he can issue a formal warning, bar the celebration of Mass at the institution, and forbid the school from identifying as Catholic. He can reportedly also seek an intervention by the Vatican.

Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, the newly retired Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila, and Bishop Michael Olson of the Diocese of Forth Worth thanked Bishop Rhoades for speaking out.

Bishop Barron noted that "going ahead with this appointment is repugnant to the identity and mission of that great center of Catholic learning."

Ostermann told the National Catholic Register late last month that she is "fully committed to maintaining an environment of academic freedom where a plurality of voices can flourish."

"While I hold my own convictions on complex social and legal issues," the pro-abortion radical continued, "I want to be clear: My role is to support the diverse research of our scholars and students, not to advance a personal political agenda."

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Bishop raises hell after woke priest allows homosexual ABC broadcaster to receive Eucharist beside his 'husband'

Bishop Joseph Strickland, the cleric removed from his office in Tyler, Texas, in 2023 by the late Pope Francis, urged his colleagues gathered on Wednesday for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' plenary assembly to address the matter of a woke priest's apparent willingness to run afoul of the church's custom and to turn a hallowed Catholic ceremony into a non-straight spectacle.

Gio Benitez, a homosexual ABC News correspondent who is "married" to a man, apparently decided after Pope Francis' passing last year to make his way back to the Catholic Church. Benitez, who was allegedly baptized in secret at the age of 15, was confirmed at St. Paul the Apostle's Church in New York City on Nov. 8.

'Here we are talking about doctrine.'

"My Confirmation Mass was a very small gathering of family and friends who have quietly been with me on this journey," Benitez wrote on Instagram. "I found the Ark of the Covenant in my heart, stored there by the one who created me… exactly as I am."

The ABC News correspondent also received holy communion from the church's woke pastor, Rev. Eric Andrews, at the highly publicized mass where LGBT activist Fr. James Martin was a concelebrant and where Benitez's "husband" served as his sponsor.

Blaze News reached out to Rev. Andrews for comment, but did not receive a response.

While the Catholic Church holds that homosexual acts are "acts of grave depravity," "intrinsically disordered," "contrary to the natural law," and "can under no circumstances" be approved, the Catechism states that homosexual persons must nevertheless "be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity."

Bishop Joseph Strickland. Photo by Craig F. Walker/Boston Globe via Getty Images

The church has also made clear that Catholics with same-sex attraction who are chaste can "participate fully in the spiritual and sacramental life of the Catholic faith community."

However, those who regularly engage in sexual activity or are partners in a committed homosexual relationship that includes regular sexual relations are not to receive holy communion or serve in public ministries.

"Receiving the sacrament is the ultimate expression of our Catholic faith, an intensely personal matter between communicant and priest," wrote the late and posthumously exonerated Cardinal George Pell. "It's not a question of refusing homosexuals or someone who is homosexually oriented. The rule is basically the same for everyone."

"If a person is actually engaged in — by public admission, at any given time — a practice contrary to Church teaching in a serious matter, then that person is not entitled to receive Holy Communion," continued Pell. "This would apply, for example, to a married person openly living in adultery. Similarly, persons who openly declare themselves active homosexuals take a position which makes it impossible for them to receive Holy Communion."

During a USCCB discussion of doctrine on Wednesday, Bishop Strickland raised the matter of Benitez's highly publicized reception of holy communion while flanked by his "husband."

"I don't know how many of us have seen on the social media priests and others gathered, celebrating the confirmation of a man living with a man openly," said Strickland. "It just needs to be addressed. Father James Martin once again involved. Great pictures of all of them smiling."

Bishop Strickland and Martin have traded barbs over the years, largely around Martin's subversive LGBT activism and apparent efforts to liberalize the Catholic Church's stance on such matters.

Martin — who shared an article titled "Gio Benitez, Openly Gay ABC Anchor, Joins the Catholic Church" on social media this week with the caption "Happy to be a part of your journey!" — has made no secret of his activism. For instance, he took issue with the Supreme Court's June 2025 decision to let parents opt their children out of lessons featuring LGBT propaganda and insinuated that homosexual persons aren't really bound by church teaching.

"Here we are talking about doctrine," continued Strickland. "I just thought I need to raise that issue. I know it's not part of any agenda, but this body gathered, we need to address it."

The panel, focused on updated ethical and religious directives for Catholic health care services, did not take up Strickland's concern.

The Catholic Herald noted that Strickland's tenure as bishop of Tyler was "marked by a reputation for directness, a strong emphasis on Eucharistic devotion, and a willingness to challenge trends in the wider Church that he believed risked undermining the clarity of Catholic teaching."

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BLM preacher claims child who shot Virginia teacher would have been treated differently if not white — only the child was black.

BLM activist and hate preacher Talbert W. Swan evidenced his apparent preference for racial division over truth with a recent pair of tweets suggesting that the Virginia boy who shot Abigail Zerner earlier this month would have been treated differently had he not been white. Only, as Twitter user "The Redheaded libertarian" pointed out, the boy was in fact black.

Swan, president of the Greater Springfield chapter of the NAACP, wrote on Jan. 14, "A six year old white boy in Virginia packs his mother’s 9mm Taurus pistol in his backpack, goes to school, and intentionally shoots his teacher. If he were Black, there would be demands for his parents to be arrested and various conversations about neglect and bad parenting."

\u201cA six year old white boy in Virginia packs his mother\u2019s 9mm Taurus pistol in his backpack, goes to school, and intentionally shoots his teacher.\n\nIf he were Black, there would be demands for his parents to be arrested and various conversations about neglect and bad parenting.\u201d
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@Bishop Talbert Swan) 1673716382

Swan took to Twitter the next day to double down, writing, "If a six year old Black boy packed his mothers gun in his backpack, went to school, and deliberately shot a white teacher, they would’ve arrested his mother, father, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, distant cousins, and neighbors by now."

\u201cIf a six year old Black boy packed his mothers gun in his backpack, went to school, and deliberately shot a white teacher, they would\u2019ve arrested his mother, father, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, distant cousins, and neighbors by now.\u201d
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@Bishop Talbert Swan) 1673788717

The hate preacher — who has previously been called out for spreading falsehoods and publicly wishing for others to die — was referencing the Jan. 6 shooting of first-grade teacher 25-year-old Abby Zwerner.

TheBlaze previously reported that a 6-year-old student at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, allegedly used a 9mm handgun registered to his mother to shoot his teacher. The bullet traveled through Zwerner's hand, held out in a defensive posture, and then up into her chest.

Abigail Zwerner is reportedly now in stable condition.

FOX 6 indicated that even after being shot, she escorted all of her students out of the classroom to safety while another school employee rushed in to restrain the suspect whose actions are ultimately at issue.

According to the New York Post, the boy had previously told another teacher that he wanted to set her on fire and watch her die.

Some teachers reportedly asked for help long before the attack, noting that the child was troubled.

The Washington Post reported that on one occasion, the boy hurled furniture about the class, forcing other children to hide. In another instance, the boy allegedly barricaded the doors to a classroom, thereby precluding a teacher and other kids from escaping.

The Post further indicated that school officials may have received a tip the day of the shooting that the boy had a gun in his possession but had failed to recover it in time.

With many of these and other insights into the case already publicly available, @TRHLofficial spared Swan the need to dabble further in hypotheticals, notifying him that the boy is indeed black:

\u201c@TalbertSwan Little boy was black tho. https://t.co/RdquHNQYeo\u201d
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@Bishop Talbert Swan) 1673716382

Police have not "arrested his mother, father, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, distant cousins, and neighbors."

Apparently unappreciative of this insight, the hate preacher blocked Redheaded libertarian. She was not, however, the only person on the receiving end of Swan's disdain.

One twitter user suggested that a Christian preacher ought to be "sowing a unifying message" rather than making "this a race issue."

Swan, an NAACP chapter president who claims on his website to have a "shepherd’s heart," responded: "The irony of racist, faux Christian, white evangelicals, whose religion of white supremacy is completely antithetical to Christianity, always trying to lecture Black people on 'unifying,' when their whitenized version of Christianity has always divided."

Swan appears to be an expert on division.

In 2018, he attacked black talk-show host Pastor Jesse Lee Peterson with a racist epithet, calling him the "King of C----" for admiring former First Lady Melania Trump.

Swan repeatedly uses similarly demeaning racist slurs in reference to black Americans with whom he apparently disagrees.

Three days after Lynette Hardaway of "Diamond and Silk" passed away at the age of 51, Swan called her " a self loathing, white supremacy apologizing, auntie ruckus, who made anti Black racists feel comfortable."

The hate preacher also refers to white people as "Malanemic People."

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